Somehow I cannot get enough of eating raspberries. Especially since I live in the U.K. – they are just incredible here. So any excuse is good and this Raspberry Mojito is another one I found last week. As if I needed this excuse!

Not everyone associates sparkling wines with art, but if you are born in Venice, you might do it by nature. So did Giovanni Cipriani, owner and founder of the famous Harry’s Bar. On creating a cocktail in the 1930s, Cipriani decided to name it after Venetian painter Giovanni Bellini, because its delicate colour reminded him of a saint’s robe in one of the artists’ works that he’d seen in a local church.

Lush and fresh – these are the best words to describe The English Garden, be it one of the most fabulous British institutions or this delicious cocktail.

And more English than this you cannot get. In fact, this cocktail is the quintessence of English-ness: the gin, the elderflower cordial, the mint… Even the Prosecco, which adds tones of continental sophistication, echoes another great British tradition, The Grand Tour.

I have a friend who’s holidaying in Mexico at the moment. Every time I flick through Instagram she’s sampling a fabulous cocktail or perusing some brightly coloured, rustic homewares. This week in drizzly London I’ve been living out my tropical fantasies through her images, so now that the sun has come out I’ll recreate one of her cocktails so we can all just pretend for a moment we’re lounging in a hammock too.